The best criminal deterrent is conviction

DAVID Sidwick, the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for Dorset, says increased penalties would deter pet theft yet his own letter suggests this not to be the case.

Mr Sidwick says that only 1% of pet thefts result in prosecution. The penalties already allow for seven years imprisonment. Increasing the maximum penalty from seven to

17, or even 70 years will not lead to more prosecutions and it is safe to say that if courts do not impose the maximum seven-year sentence now, they surely will not impose longer sentences.

While pet theft is despicable, so are all forms of theft.

The victims of theft universally think that the type of theft they have suffered should be treated more severely. Car owners feel hurt if their car is stolen but that is nothing to the anger felt by motorcyclists who usually view their machine as their most treasured possession.

The only way judges can deter thieves is by convicting a majority of them. If fines imposed were 10 times the value of the stolen pet it would not deter thieves if they thought unlikely they get caught. But if they felt there was little chance of escaping justice and the level of fine made theft unprofitable, possibly pet theft would diminish.

Mike Baker St Austell, Cornwall